Certain integrated circuits, due to their application or inherent characteristic structure, are susceptible to extraneous coupling to other devices in the vicinity or exhibit general instability caused by localized charges present on the surface of the device. To overcome these problems, a separate wire conductor is connected between the ground finger lead of the device enclosure and the pad supporting the integrated circuit chip. This generally requires the use of a larger support pad so that there is sufficient clearance between the chip and the edge of the support pad to permit the bonding of a wire in that area. Occasionally, a small portion of the material used to bond the chip onto the mounting pad will overflow and invade this area somewhat. Because the overflow is difficult to control, an additional amount of clearance between the chip and the edge of the support pad is needed.
Where a ground wire is not bonded to the support pad, the typical minimum clearance between the chip and the edge of the support pad is about 5 mils. However, where a ground wire must be bonded to the support pad, the typical minimum clearance is about 15 mils. In a large percentage of the cases where such a ground wire is required the size of the support pad must be increased to the next commercially available size, typically resulting in a 50 % increase, or more, in pad area. What is needed is a method of attaching this ground wire to the support pad without the need to increase the clearance between the chip and the edge of the pad.